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Benefits and Difficulties of Plating onto Plastics

Companies in a variety of industries these days are relying on plastic parts and components when designing and manufacturing their products. Compared to heavier, bulkier materials, plastic offers a lightweight alternative that is surprisingly tough and durable. However, plastic in its natural state may not produce the desired result when manufacturing certain types of products. […]

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Biocompatibility and Design Considerations

What is biocompatibility? A biocompatible material is one that does not induce a response in living organisms, whether it be on their skin or tissue. Medically, such a material is useful because it is known to not cause allergic reactions, long-term problems or other complications in patients. Biocompatibility is meant to eliminate undesired local, tumorigenic, systemic, […]

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Plating for High-Temperature Applications

Plating your components, a process that applies a thin metal coating to the outside of a substrate, provides many benefits. It can improve various characteristics, such as hardness or corrosion resistance, to a part or even introduce new ones, like electrical conductivity or magnetism. One sought-after feature plating can enhance is resistance to high temperatures. In many applications, exposure to […]

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Plastic Materials as Electroplating Substrates

While electroplating is typically known as a metal-on-metal process, some manufacturing applications require plating onto plastic materials. The reasons are often functional, such as metalizing a plastic substrate to enable it to conduct electricity or to harden and protect the surface. While electroplating onto plastic offers a variety of benefits, it is often more difficult to execute successfully than […]

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Electroplating IC Packages

Electroplating integrated circuit packaging is simultaneously becoming a more complex and more in-demand service — especially as the U.S. electronics industry has continued to generate annual revenues pushing well past the $200 billion mark since 2012. With the domestic consumer electronics (CE) market estimated to shatter the $300 billion mark in 2018, the number of […]

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How Plating Onto Refractory Metals is Different

How is Plating Onto Refractory Metals Different From “Traditional” Electroplating? If you ask the average person to name a few metals, they are likely to list materials such as gold, silver, tin, copper and aluminum. You’d probably be shocked to hear the words “molybdenum” or “tantalum.” The latter two are examples of a category of […]

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Guide to Surface Finishing for 3D-Printed Parts

3D printing is a useful new technology that allows manufacturers to produce components relatively quickly, in small batches and with a high degree of flexibility. Often, though, after a part comes out of the printer, it needs to undergo a surface finishing process before it’s ready for use, especially if it’s a consumer good or […]

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How Does Electroplating Contribute to Reducing Manufacturing Costs?

In today’s highly competitive business climate, just about every manufacturer is looking for ways to reduce operating costs. Factors such as increasingly stringent environmental regulations and cheaper overseas labor make it more challenging than ever for manufacturers to turn a profit. If you’re looking for cost-effective finishing methods for products you manufacture, electroplating deserves strong […]

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Using Electroplating to Increase Surface Thickness

In some situations, it may be necessary to increase the thickness of the surface of a workpiece. A thicker coating can improve the durability of the substrate and make it more difficult for potentially destructive forces — such as corrosion or exposure to harsh chemicals — to impact product quality. Increased coating thickness can also […]

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An Introduction to Gold Plating for Ground Defense Systems

Since the introduction of ground defense systems in the 1950s and 1960s, companies such as Raytheon and Boeing have used gold plating and other types of metal finishing services to help improve the expected life of their products, reduce wear and help increase electrical conductivity and connectivity. What Is a Ground Defense System? A ground […]

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